Future Sydney: Former employee calls to double, triple homes at Sydney Olympic Park

A former Olympic Park insider has accused the state government of passing on a chance to solve the housing crisis, with calls to triple the number of residents living in the sporting suburb by 2050.

As part of the Minns Government’s plan to confront the housing crisis, a new master plan for Sydney Olympic Park is now on public exhibition. Picture: Supplied by the NSW Government

A former insider has accused the Minns government of wasting the legacy left by the Sydney Olympics after it passed on an opportunity to turn the site into a housing mecca, in what has been labelled a shocking “missed opportunity” for the state.

Ben Woods spent 20 years transforming Olympic Park from an industrial wasteland into a world-class precinct for Summer 2000, but for the first time the property titan has told The Daily Telegraph he fears this work has gone to waste.

The warning comes after the government revealed a new draft masterplan to grow the suburb by just 6000 residents between 2030 and 2050, from 24,000 to 30,000.

Mr Woods said this number should be “doubled or tripled” given the suburb will be one of the best-connected in the state between a big new metro station, heavy rail line and potential light rail route, making it a prime Plan B for the failed Rosehill ‘mega-city’.

“This is a bronze medal outcome for a gold medal opportunity,” Mr Woods said.

The draft masterplan for Sydney Olympic Park would only add 6000 more residents to the suburb between 2030 to 2050. Picture: NSW Government

The view from the Novotel, of Sydney Olympic Park in Homebush, which could take a lot more homes than planned, said Mr Woods.

“Name me another place in Sydney where you’ve got hundreds of hectares of parkland in the middle of the city …(plus) the infrastructure that’s already there and the infrastructure that’s coming along … it doesn’t exist.

“The masterplan is a real missed opportunity … given the government’s focus on (the housing crisis) there needs to be a significant increase in density, we should be looking at 60,000 residents, maybe we need to look at 90,000 residents.”

Former Sydney Olympic Park Authority planner Ben Woods. Picture: Supplied

Mr Woods said the plans for housing should be more ambitious. Picture: NSW Government

The new masterplan from the Sydney Olympic Park Authority has envisioned 13,000 new homes in the area by 2050, marking a slight bump on the old plan for 10,000 dwellings by 2030.

Already this target is slipping away according to the latest census, which counted just under 3100 homes in the area.

Mr Woods left the Authority in 2022 under the former Liberal government after two decades at the helm of planning and development.

A change in government and a new housing agenda gave him hope the precinct would finally live up to its potential.

But unlike Rosehill, Woollahra and other transport-orientated developments that have run into roadblocks, Mr Woods said Sydney Olympic Park is mostly “government-owned land,” giving Premier Chris Minns a clear shot to fix the housing crisis.

Stuart Ayres said it was important any increase in housing was balanced, to ensure the park remains a premier events destination.

Former Parramatta MP and Urban Development Institute of Australia boss Stuart Ayres said the story was not so simple.

“There is capacity for Olympic Park to be more bold and ambitious when it comes to housing,” Mr Ayres said.

“But it doesn’t matter how many apartments can be built, it’s whether the market can take it, and it’s critical the park maintains tourism and sports and events in its DNA … it’s a precinct that requires balance.”

Following rumours that government staff were also underwhelmed with the numbers, Planning Minister Paul Scully said new masterplan was “only in draft form, so to suggest this is a missed opportunity is premature”.

Mr Scully claimed only eight per cent of the land in Sydney Olympic Park was developable, putting a handbrake on doubling or tripling the growth slated for the area.

Green space is seen as a mjor priority for the area, which one expert claims could take more housing. Picture: Supplied by the NSW Government

“Tripling the number of homes and jobs would have impacts on the amenity, liveability, venues and ecological status of this precinct,” Mr Scully said.

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Originally published as Future Sydney: Former employee calls to double, triple homes at Sydney Olympic Park